French Mirage fighter dropped bomb near Chadian rebels heading for N'Djamena

Report just in from Bloomberg (Update 3) April 13, 2006 - excerpt:

A French Mirage fighter dropped a bomb near a column of Chadian rebels heading for the capital N'Djamena as a "warning" to insurgents seeking to overthrow President Idriss Deby, a French official said. The bomb fell "in the sand" yesterday and didn't cause any casualties, a French Defense Ministry spokesman, who asked not to be identified, said by telephone today.

Rebels of the United Front for Democratic Change, or FUC, battled government forces in N'Djamena beginning at dawn today before being repelled, President Deby said in an interview with Radio France International. The attack was "suicidal," he said.

"The situation in N'Djamena is under the control of the defense and security forces,'' Deby told RFI.

Attacks by the FUC rebels who are based along the eastern border with Sudan have increased in advance of presidential elections scheduled for next month. Deby, who seized power in 1990, is standing for re-election in polls that most opposition parties are boycotting. The main rebel forces are about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from N'Djamena, the French spokesman said.

Possible Coup

"I hope we're not in a situation where you've got a coup and an overthrow of the government,'' U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick said today in Washington.

Deby is a Zaghawa, an ethnic group that represents about 1.5 percent of Chad's 10 million people, the British Broadcasting Corp. reported on its Web site. His grip on power has been weakened by defections of former allies in recent months.

"It's dissatisfied elements of former Deby allies who are powerful figures in this rebellion," Jason Mosley, Africa editor at the Oxford Analytica, said in a telephone interview today.

Deby's nephew General Abakar Youssouf Mahamat Itno, who was Chad's senior army officer, died last month in fighting against rebels operating along the Sudanese border.

Deby may not remain in power beyond next week, Mosley said.

"The speed with which the rebel advance has moved towards N'Djamena indicates that their objective is to take Deby out," Mosley said. "They are not going to stop just because they didn't take the National Assembly this morning.''

Refugee Camps

A major concern amid the turmoil is the safety of camps in eastern Chad that house refugees from Sudan's Darfur region, Zoellick said following a speech at the Brookings Institution, a policy study group.

"The most up-to-date information I have is that the situation in the camps is stable and OK," Zoellick said. "We have to try to make sure that the people who are in the refugee camps are safe and can feed their babies."

Landlocked Chad produces about 170,000 barrels of oil a day and ships it in a pipeline that runs through Cameroon to the Atlantic Ocean. Exxon Mobil Corp. owns 40 percent of the project Petroliam Nasional Bhd. 35 percent and Chevron Corp. the rest.

In January, the World Bank cut off $124 million in loans to Chad after the central African nation changed its laws that ensured revenue from its oil pipeline would boost spending on education, health care, social services and rural development.

The changes, approved on Dec. 29 by Chad's parliament, will weaken the country's ability to reduce poverty, the World Bank said. The government has argued it needed to amend its Petroleum Revenue Management Law to boost revenue.

Casualty Claim

Yesterday's air attack by French planes caused an unknown number of casualties, said the FUC rebel representative in France, former Chad Foreign Minister Laona Gong, Agence France-Presse reported.

"We deplore numerous civilian victims of French bombings in the towns of Adre and Moudeina," AFP cited Gong as saying.

Jean-Francois Bureau, the chief French Defense Ministry spokesman, denied that there had been any attack on towns.

"here were no casualties," Bureau said. "We are not involved in any military action. We are there to protect our nationals."

About 1,500 French nationals live in Chad, a former French colony, and the French army has 1,250 soldiers in the country, the Defense Ministry said.

Deby came to power in 1990, when he successfully ousted then-President Hissene Habre after an offensive on N'Djamena from bases in Sudan.

In recent months, Deby has accused the Sudanese government of backing the rebels who have operated from Sudan's western region of Darfur.

Mosley of Oxford Analytica said that while the crisis in Chad distracts international attention away from the civil war in Darfur, there is no hard evidence that the government in Khartoum is arming the Chadian rebels.

"Just because they are able to set up shop in Darfur doesn't mean the Sudanese government is arming them," Mosley said. "Operating in Sudan doesn't make you a Sudanese proxy."

To contact the reporter on this story:
Helene Fouquet in Paris at hfouquet1@bloomberg.net;
Joe Bavier in Abidjan, Ivory Coast through Johannesburg at (27) prichardso10@bloomberg.net

See Update 4 for above report.

Further reading

Apr 10 2006 FUC in eastern Chad mount fresh offensive to get to N'Djamena and oust Chadian President Deby

Apr 11 2006 BBC Chad rebels attack refugee camp - Chad has 12 camps hosting Sudanese refugees from Darfur. A large number of army officers have deserted to join the FUCD, a coalition of rebel groups led by Mahamat Nour from bases in Darfur on Sudan's border with Chad. But Chad's government is refusing to call the attackers rebels and blames Sudan for the incident at the camp. Chad says the assailants were mercenaries supported by Khartoum.

Apr 11 2006 BBC Chadian rebels raid central town

Apr 11 2006 Propaganda war in Chad aimed at sowing fear and panic

Apr 12 2006 BBC Chad rebels 'advance on capital' - The BBC's Stephanie Hancock in N'Djamena says people in the capital are going to work as usual, but are not sending their children to school in case of unrest.

Apr 13 2006 EU calls for calm in Chad

Apr 13 2006 UNHCR alarmed over possible impact of Chad violence on refugees

Apr 13 2006 The Times Analysis: Conflict in Chad has roots in Darfur

Sudan's president calls on all Sudanese to say no to "foreign" troops in Darfur

Addressing a conference of the Sudanese Youth National Union on Wednesday, the president called on all Sudanese to say no to foreign troops in Darfur, Xinhua reported 13 Apr 2006 - excerpt:

"Attempts to intervene in Sudan's affairs would continue unless all Sudanese decided that no foreign soldier would be allowed to set a foot on the Sudanese soil whatever be the justification," said al-Bashir.

"Foreign intervention is but the old colonization cloaked in the new cloth of the suspicious organizations and arms dealers," al-Bashir added.

International non-governmental aid organizations have repeatedly accused the Sudanese authorities of "imposing greater restrictions on relief operations."

Al-Bashir reaffirmed Khartoum's commitment to finding a peaceful and comprehensive political solution to the question of Darfur through negotiations.

In an interview with the Saudi Al-Ekhabariya TV Channel on Wednesday, al-Bashir denounced the suspicious Western attempts to fuel and prolong the conflict in Darfur in order to realize special agenda.

Al-Bashir lauded the role being played by the Arab countries with respect to supporting peace and rehabilitation in Sudan.

Analysis: Conflict in Chad has roots in Darfur

Apr 13 2006 analysis by Jonathan Clayton, Africa correspondent of The Times, says today's attempted military coup in Chad is a result of the blind eye turned to the troubles in Darfur - excerpt:

The Sudanese and Chadian governments have armed the rival militias and in doing so they have let the genie out the bottle. Now, even if they wanted to do so, it is unlikely they could get it back in. At the same time the Sudanese government has prevented the UN from establishing a credible force in the area.

The east of Chad and the Darfur region of western Sudan are effectively the same place - the border between them is arbitrary and the same tribes live on both sides. They have no allegiance to either country, only to their clans.

Why is Sudan accused of backing the rebels?

The Zagawa tribe, the tribe to which Chad's President Deby belongs, was one of the three main tribes involved in the fighting against the Sudanese Government in the early days of the Darfur conflict.

Now the Sudanese has started backing the anti-government rebels in Chad in retaliation. At best, they say that since coming to power in 1990 President Deby has turned a blind eye to anti-Sudan movements in Chad, at worst he supported them and fuelled the conflict.

What is the United Force for Change (FUC)?

The FUC consists of other eastern tribes opposed to the Zagawa tribe of the Chadian President. This is a part of the world which hasn't changed for centuries, so there is historic enmity dating back for centuries, making it an easy recruiting ground for rebels.

They are very keen on deposing President Deby before the election in May. They know perfectly well that he will win - if you are the incumbent you always win - and things will become even more entrenched. Since the President's army is not particularly effective, the militias, presumably with the help of the Sudanese army, have swept across Chad in rapid time to reach the capital.

What would happen if President Deby is overthrown?

It would be very much business as usual. In a way, things in Chad can't get much worse. It will be bad news for the refugees who fled Sudan, they will find themselves under a Government supported by the same figures from whom they initially fled. The major problem is that increased instability in the area would make the aid efforts that are underway even more difficult.

Will the West intervene?

The only joker in the pack is France. It does have quite a large military detachment in Chad and a couple of airstrips. The French may decide that they want to keep President Deby in power, but I don't imagine any other countries will get involved. President Deby is no hero but it maybe a question of "better the devil you know".

UNHCR alarmed over possible impact of Chad violence on refugees

UNHCR says its High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres expressed alarm Thursday over violence in Chad and the possible consequences for the security and welfare of some 200,000 refugees from Darfur in camps in the east of the country.

"I urgently appeal to all sides in this political upheaval to respect the civilian character of the refugee camps and to leave in peace those who have already fled the terrors of Darfur," said Guterres.

Arab League accused of backing Khartoum

The Arab League is partly to blame for Khartoum's opposition to a UN peacekeeping force in Darfur, according to political analysts and Sudanese NGOs based in Western countries.

Although both sides are Muslim, the victims are non-Arab Africans, and a group of civil society organizations charges that for this reason, the Arab League is unconcerned about the carnage. Full report by Stephen Mbogo CNS 13 Apr 2006.

EU calls for calm in Chad

In a statement released in Austria, which currently holds the rotating presidency of the 25-nation bloc, the EU urged all states in the area, in particular Chad and Sudan, to "take the necessary steps to restore calm as soon as possible."

"The Presidency of the European Union also sharply condemns the recent incursion by armed rebels into the refugee camp Goz Amer close to the Sudanese border," the statement said.

In the statement, the EU also reminded all parties of the importance of ongoing peace talks and said it would "monitor with close interest the possible effects of events in Chad in these negotiations." Full report Pravda 13 Apr 2006.

Difficult journey for displaced Dinkas in Darfur returning home to Sudan's Northern Bahr El Ghazal province

Concern is growing at the fate of thousands of displaced Dinka tribes people attempting to return to their homes in Sudan's Northern Bahr El Ghazal province from South Darfur, International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported 11 Apr 2006 - excerpt:



Photo: IOM assists displaced Dinkas in Kiir Galama, Northern Bahr El Ghaszl province (Louis Hoffman/IOM 2006)

With the assistance of community leaders, IOM has to date registered some 4,500 stranded internally displaced Dinkas in the locality of Kiir Galama, on the southern banks of the river Kiir.

"Their living conditions are desperate," said IOM's Louis Hoffmann. "They are stranded without potable water, adequate food or health care and have no money to move on. Their situation is set to worsen as more displaced people arrive in Kiir Galama on a daily basis."

In response to a request from the governor of Northern Bahr El Ghazal and in coordination with the UN, IOM yesterday organized the first land convoy from Kiir Galama to assist a group of 321 displaced Dinkas to return to their places of origin in the region of Jaac, some 40 kilometres south in the central highlands of Northern Bahr El Ghazal province.

While many had walked from South Darfur to the KiirRiver, the remaining group was too distressed to make the last part of the voyage on foot. They are part of a much larger group of tens of thousands of fellow tribes people who were displaced by conflict and drought in South Sudan to South Darfur 19 years ago and who were again displaced by the fighting in Darfur in 2003.

Since the signing of the comprehensive peace agreement between Khartoum and the Sudanese People's Liberation Movement in January 2005, more and more internally displaced people have been making their way home to South Sudan.

With little wealth after having lost their possessions in their initial flight to Darfur and again deprived of any assets by the conflict in Darfur, their journey home is proving to be long and difficult as they are forced to sell whatever they can to pay for train and truck fees to take them home.

This week IOM will open a way station at Samaha to provide basic facilities such as water, sanitation, and shelter for the displaced Dinkas.

"We are running against time as many more displaced people will want to return to Northern Bahr El Ghazal province before the onset of the rainy season," added IOM's Louis Hoffmann. "Once the rains begin, roads will increasingly become impassable, and reintegration at a community level will prove too difficult to support returns until later in the year when the rains end."

IOM has also opened an office at Ed Daein in order to track the spontaneous returns and to monitor the vulnerability of groups travelling home, information which will also be used for planning return and reintegration programmes for the displaced upon arrival at their final destinations.

As part of a wider assistance programme to help internally displaced people (IDPs) who wish to return to their homes in South Sudan, IOM has already established a way station in Kadugli in South Kordofan province which is providing clean water, sanitation, shelter, hygiene and emergency health care and referral.

For further information, please contact Louis Hoffmann, Tel: +882 16433 38260: Email: lhoffmann@iom.int



Feb 9 2006 The Dinka's epic trek across South Sudan continues - 250,000 cattle have arrived so far in 34 cattle camps around Bor
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Displaced to Darfur, Dinkas fall victim to 2 Sudan wars

Excerpt from Dec 19 2004 article in Boston Globe by Raymond Thibodeaux, Globe Correspondent provides some background to the Dinkas displaced to Darfur, from southern Sudan:

In southern Sudan, the pro government Arab militias were called Murahaleen. They were predecessors to the Arab militias, known as the Janjaweed, who are terrorizing Darfur today.

Michael Garang is a lanky, 42-year-old Dinka who, like Deng, is from Bahr al-Ghazal. He and the other Dinkas who fled to Darfur from southern Sudan survived on jobs as day laborers for the Arabs and the Fur, Darfur's largest tribe. His wife, like most Dinka women, found jobs cleaning houses, doing laundry, or collecting water and firewood.

"When the Janjaweed came to our village, they wanted to kill the Furs and the Dinkas. Even though we were neighbors and friends, the Arabs living among us never raised a gun to protect us," Garang said.

The reason most of the 7,500 Dinkas refused to leave the Otash camp is that few of them had registered for food rations and were forced to remain near Nyala to find jobs to earn enough money to feed themselves. The Dinkas also were protected by the aid workers at the Otash camp, as police and Arab militias rarely harassed residents in their presence.

The camp is crowded with thousands of families squeezed into tiny, fragile huts. They live on the edge of starvation, made worse by the recent upsurge in violence that has halted food relief by the United Nations and many nongovernmental aid agencies. On the other side of Nyala is the Beliel camp, where 5,000 Dinkas have lived since years before the Darfur crisis broke out.

As the aid coming into Beliel fizzled, many of the Dinkas were absorbed by Nyala's labor-intensive job market, spurred by both Arab and African business leaders who have come to depend on the low wages for which the Dinkas are willing to work.

For the more than 1.5 million people forced off their land by the fighting in Darfur, the Dinkas' predicament is an ominous forecast for their own lives in the coming years, especially as the crisis in western Sudan shows signs of escalating.

In much of Africa, where land confers identity and status, Darfurians, like the Dinkas before them, are becoming landless and increasingly vulnerable to attacks by progovernment militias, mostly drawn from nomadic Arab herding tribes with a centuries-old legacy of antagonism toward African farmers.

"The situation here is so miserable that most of us just want to go back home to southern Sudan to be buried on our own land," said Roberto Dimo, a 99-year-old Dinka who lives in a tiny, sand-dusted hut in Otash. "But the Arabs have taken our land, so we can't even do that."

Further reading

Mar 30 2004 IRIN Fighting reported in Bahr al-Ghazal between different Dinkas groups

Apr 9 2004 Eric Reeves The lesson of the Darfur truce accord IRIN reports on the fate of Dinkas from southern Sudan caught up in the racially/ethnically animated destruction of Darfur: "Internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the state of Southern Darfur, western Sudan, say their camp was looted and burned by Arab militiamen on 4 April [ ]. The camp, home to thousands of Dinkas -- an ethnic group from southern Sudan -- is located on the edge of Abu Jura, a village about 40 km from Nyala. Almost all of it was burned by Janjawid -- Arab militias -- several of the IDPs told IRIN in Nyala. 'We are targeted because we are black,' a Dinka teacher claimed. 'The Janjawid said: "We don't want any black skin here." (IRIN Nyala, Darfur, April 8, 2004)

Oct 19 2004 Emily Wax, Beliel Camp, Sudan Sudan's Dinkas, displaced by past conflict, fear violence in Darfur. Note, Beliel is less than five miles from Kalma, South Darfur.

Feb 10 2006 Sudan's identity and the notion of broken promises - In 1964 and 1965, Al Misseriya massacred Dinkas and other Southern Sudanese in El Muglad and Babanusa. Some members of Al Misseriya, who would want to rewrite history of the area, currently claim that the conflict in question was between Al Misseriyia and the rebels.

Jan 21 2006 Juba Declaration is meaningless without ratification - The recent nomination of under-secretaries for GOSS demonstrates that Salva Kiir is uncompromising Dinka tribalist. Out of 18 under-secretaries, nine are Dinkas. There is only one Nuer from the list. The nomination is an insult to SSDF's negotiating team in Juba and it is tribalism as usual. What will be the work of "political committee" stipulated in the Juba Declaration if Salva Kiir is continuing to fill the GOSS with Dinkas from Bahr-El Ghazal?

Cambodian mine-clearing soldiers join UN mission in Sudan

Good luck to a group of 109 Cambodian soldiers who leave Phnom Penh on Saturday to join the UN demining mission in southern Sudan. Twenty-six of the 135 soldiers chosen were already in place in Sudan with 25 vehicles, 70 mine detectors and six trailers, as well as other different types of logistical equipment.

A seeing-off ceremony was held Wednesday presided over by Prime Minister Hun Sen. "It is the first time in the history of Cambodia to take part in an international UN peacekeeping mission. This is our pride and the great honor for our military, nation and the people," the premier said.

He went on to say that "it is a humanitarianism mission, so it is our obligation to participate the mission and play more and more important role in the regional and international affairs."



Photo: Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen walks past a demining unit, during a ceremony before the departure of the Cambodian humanitarian demining unit for the UN peace keeping operation in Sudan, in Phnom Penh April 12, 2006. (Reuters) Full report Xinhua/ST 12 Apr 2006.

Rice urges world act now to stop Darfur atrocities

The United States has said it is premature to offer its own forces for Darfur. Most of UN peacekeepers are expected to come from Africa and some Asian countries, with North America and Europe helping with funding, intelligence and logistics.

"I understand that the Sudan government sometimes says that they don't favour this, but they have failed in their obligation to protect the people of Darfur and they clearly need international help," said Rice.

"The world needs to act," she said. "We really can't afford to wait."

Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick said it was in the Sudanese government's interests to allow the international community to intervene in Darfur.

"You either get the approval of the government ... or you invade and that is a very big, serious challenge," said Zoellick, who later made clear he was not suggesting an invasion of Sudan but rather that their cooperation was preferable to an invasion.

Reuters/Scotsman 13 April 2006.

[Such statements don't make sense. Who is "the world"? Who is going to invade without an UN Resolution? Who are Rice and Zoellick addressing such statements to?]

UK Donation for Roads May Open New Era of Driving Across Sudan

The World Food Programme (WFP) today welcomed a donation of US$8.7 million from the United Kingdom's Department for International Development earmarked for the United Nations food agency's giant road works project in southern Sudan.

WFP is rebuilding more than 3,000 kilometres of roads in the war-ravaged region at a cost of US$183 million. Two decades of fighting between the north and the south, which ended last year, almost completely destroyed southern Sudan's road network.
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Government of South Sudan 2005-6 budget

Mar 28 2006 Sudan Tribune Government of South Sudan 2005-6 budget - See attached a PowerPoint presentation to the recent Donors Conference meeting held in Paris 10 March 2006, by the GOSS Minister of Finance. It deals with the 2005-6 budgets and the policies behind those.

UK, US call for sanctions against 4 Sudanese over Darfur

AP report says the UK and the US called for sanctions Wednesday against four Sudanese who have blocked peace efforts and violated human rights in Darfur. But Russia said it wants to study the list, warning that it could aggravate the fragile peace process. Excerpt:

Britain sent the list to the chairman of the Security Council committee in charge of sanctions against Sudan. Under council rules, if no country objects in 48 hours, the sanctions will take effect but because of the Easter Holiday the objection period has been extended until Monday.

Since freezing financial assets are involved, the UK's UN Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry said, the names won't be disclosed until the sanctions take effect, hopefully on Monday. If the sanctions are approved, they will be the first against any participants in the Darfur conflict.

"What we're going to do today is the start of a process," Jones Parry said. "I join with ... the United States in putting forward today four names representing a balanced package."

Other council members, including Argentina, Denmark, France, Japan, Peru and Slovakia, also support the list, council diplomats said. (ST/AP)

Turkey sends field hospital in Darfur, western Sudan

Turkey will open a field hospital in Darfur, Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Wednesday. Releasing a statement, the ministry said two executives of the Turkish Red Crescent had gone to Sudan on 30 March to determine the needs of the region. "Five C-130 cargo planes of the Turkish Air Forces will ship a fully-equipped field hospital to the region," the statement said.

The hospital has a 50-bed capacity and two operating rooms, the Turkish Anatolia news agency reported.

The statement recalled that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan who had paid a visit to Sudan between 27-29 March and seen the tough living conditions of around 30,000 people in Otach refugee camp, ordered establishment of a field hospital in the region. Full report ST 13 April 2006.

Merowe Dam area set for further confrontation and unrest

An unsourced article at the Sudan Tribune, dated 11 April 2006, reports violence started on Friday in the Amri area of the Hamdab (Merowe) Dam when the dam authority carried out its final survey by force. According to the article, the survey - which was supposed to take place last December - has been postponed many times due to the objection of the affected communities. The area is set for further confrontations and unrest, observers believe.

Note Jan 12 2006 The El Multaga resettlement site - Sudan's Chinese backed Merowe Dam is for the greater benefit of Sudan.

Security Council calls for smooth transition to UN operation in Darfur, western Sudan

The Security Council today called on "all parties" to ensure a smooth and successful transfer to a UN operation in Darfur, while also commending the African Union's mission in the region and endorsing the AU Peace and Security Council's 30 April deadline for achieving peace. Full report UN News Centre.

Note, China holds the presidency for this month.



Photo: UN Security Council President Ambassador Wang (China)

Apr 11 2006 DPA - The council asked Secretary General Kofi Annan to send an assessment team to Darfur before April 30 to plan for the transition from the AU to the UN force. The AU had decided to pull out of Darfur by year's end, but agreed that some of its 7,000 troops would join the UN peacekeeping mission. The council said in a statement that the UN operation in Darfur would have "strong African participation and character."

Apr 11 2006 Reuters - The 15-nation Security Council, in a policy statement read at a public meeting, backed the African Union's April 30 deadline for reaching an agreement in the Abuja talks and reaffirmed its decision "to hold accountable those impeding the peace process and committing human rights violations." Diplomats said Britain would soon distribute a list of individuals it believes are blocking the peace process, who could become the targets of U.N. sanctions, such as a travel ban and having their foreign assets frozen. But China, which has veto power, has said it was not in favour of sanctions.

Apr 11 2006 UN Security Council calls for Sudan to explain Egeland fiasco

Apr 11 2006 AP/ST TEXT: Full UN security Council Statement

Apr 12 2006 AP/Guardian Edith Lederer Council Wants Deal on Darfur Conflict - US Ambassador John Bolton said the next step will be council consideration of a list of people subject to sanctions for blocking peace efforts. Britain's Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry welcomed the statement, saying "the key thing is that between all of us working with the regional organizations, we tackle the problem of the politics, the security and the humanitarian access in Darfur."

Deputy UN Secretary-General, Mark Malloch Brown on Darfur

Mar 11 2006 Malloch Brown appointed Deputy UN Secretary-General - excerpt:

America and Europe should provide troops and money for a major international peacekeeping force for Darfur, the new deputy UN secretary-general, Mark Malloch Brown, said yesterday.

Mr Malloch Brown, who was appointed last Friday, told the Guardian that only modern mobile forces, trained in helicopter operations, could be effective in Darfur. Peacekeeping operations by poorly equipped African and Asian countries were no longer sufficient. "We want the rest of the world to make a higher level of contributions to peacekeeping, involving more mainstream militaries around the world. It's going to need a whole new level of investment and logistical support," he said.

"You can't do this [peacekeeping in Darfur] through just troops on the ground with Landcruisers or lightly armoured vehicles because this place is the size of France. However many troops you have, the only way they are going to be effective in preventing attacks on civilians is if they are highly mobile.

"That means militarised helicopters that can protect themselves against ground fire and troops trained in helicopter-based operations. This is a very different model of peacekeeping."

Sudan's VP Taha meets SLA leaders Minawi and Nur

The UN News Centre's near verbatim transcript of a press briefing by Jan Pronk, UN special envoy for Sudan, 17 August 2005, explains the Darfur rebels are flown to the peace talks and sleep at the Hilton in Abuja, Nigeria.



Photos: The Hilton Hotel, Abuja is a 45 minute drive from the airport and offers ultra modern facilities. The Zuma Rock and Gurara Waterfalls are only a short drive away.



AP report says on Tuesday 11 April, 2006 Sudan's Second Vice-President, Ali Osman Taha, met one of the leaders of Darfur rebel group SLM, Mani Arkoi Minawi, at his residence in the Hilton Hotel, Abuja.



Photo: Ali Osman Taha (Sudan Watch archive 14 Mar 2006)

The meeting was a follow-up to one held in Tripoli, Libya last March. Taha had told Minawi that what they discussed in Tripoli had received full interest from the Sudanese leadership.



Photo: Meni Minawi Arkowri (Sudan Watch archive 14 Mar 2006)

On Sunday 9 April, 2006 Taha met Abdelwhaed al-Nur the leader of the other faction of the SLM



Photo: Abdel Wahed Mohamed el-Nur attends at the Darfur peace talks in Abuja Feb 4, 2006. (Reuters/Afolabi Sotunde)

On Monday April 10, 2006, the African Union's chief mediator for the Darfur peace talks, Salim Ahmed Salim, met with Taha in Addis Ababa to review the outcome of the high-level consultations which took place over the weekend in Abuja.



Photo: Salim Ahmed Salim, special envoy on the Darfur talks addresses the gathering at the venue of the Darfur peace talks in Abuja, Nigeria, Monday, Oct. 3 2005 when the talks entered the final phase



The Hilton Hotel, Abuja, pictured here, has 670 rooms and suites and is set in beautiful landscape grounds, less than one kilometre from the Ministries and Embassies.



Photo: A general view of a Sudanese internally displaced people camp housing over 730 families, December 3, 2005. Darfur peace talks in Abuja have dragged on for two years. Fighting in Darfur began three years ago.

EU gives $424 million for Africa peace operations

The European Union has set aside 350 million euros ($424 million) for continued support of African-led peacekeeping operations in Africa, including Darfur, EU officials said April 11, 2006 - Reuters:

The new funds for the EU's African Peace Facility, created three years ago with a 250 million euro budget, are intended to cover the 2006-10 period.

"There is no development without stability, and no development without security," EU Development Commissioner Louis Michel told a news conference after a ministerial meeting of the 25-nation bloc.

The African Peace Facility has been mostly used to support African Union efforts to halt violence in Darfur, Michel said.

He confirmed the EU was preparing to give 50 million euros to help the AU finance a six-month extension of its mission, adding to 162 million already given by the bloc for that operation.

The AU says it costs around $24 million a month to run its [Darfur] mission, for which it relies on donor nations.

UN Security Council calls for Sudan to explain Egeland fiasco

The UN Security Council reports this morning its regret at the Sudanese government denying entry of the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator to Darfur and called for an explanation:

In a presidential statement read by this month's Council President, Wang Guangya (China), the Council also expressed its regret and its "grave concern over the humanitarian consequences" at the Government's decision not to renew the contract of the Norwegian Refugee Council.

The Council, reiterating its full support for the Inter-Sudanese Peace Talks on the Conflict in Darfur in Abuja, Nigeria, endorsed the decision of the African Union Peace and Security Council that 30 April was the final deadline for reaching an agreement.

Also today, China's Xinhua reports UN Council demands parties in Sudan to reach agreement by April 30.

Vacancy: Ockenden seeks Field Director, South Sudan

Ockenden International, a UK-based secular NGO working with refugees, seeks a Field Director to oversee their programmes in south Sudan. Full job specification and details on how to apply are on the Ockenden website.

Propaganda war in Chad aimed at sowing fear and panic

"The UN and most NGOs have decided to reduce staff at Goz-Beida ... as a security precaution," UNHCR spokesman Matthew Conway told Reuters:

Speaking by telephone from Abeche, some 270 km (170 miles) to the north of Goz-Beida, Conway said the rebels appeared to have pulled back from both Koukou Angarana and the refugee camp.

"All our offices in the east have checked in and calm is prevailing," he said.

"PROPAGANDA WAR"

Diplomats and aid workers said recent rebel statements announcing the capture of major towns in the east -- which later turned out to be false or exaggerated -- appeared aimed at sowing fear and panic among local officials.

The government says it still controls the country.

"There's a propaganda war being fought here," said one diplomat, who asked not to be named.

Chad's government blamed Sudan for Monday's raid on the refugee camp, which it said caused damage and casualties.

The UNHCR's Conway said the agency had received no reports of civilian casualties.

"Sudan has decided to destabilise Chad with carefully planned terrorist strikes," Chad's Information Minister Hourmadji Moussa Doumgor said in a statement which described the rebels as "mercenaries in the pay of Sudan".

Since last year, insurgent groups, their ranks swelled by army deserters, have been harrying Deby's forces from the east.

Diplomats say it remains to be seen whether they can push to N'Djamena before the elections. Rebel fighters killed the Chadian army commander, who was Deby's nephew, last month.

In May's election, Deby -- who won power in a 1990 military revolt from the east -- will face four candidates with links to his government.

Source: Reuters report by Betel Miarom 11 April, 2006 with additional reporting by Pascal Fletcher in Dakar.
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Chad rebels from bases in Darfur attack refugee camp

BBC report: Chad has 12 camps hosting Sudanese refugees from Darfur. A large number of army officers have deserted to join the FUCD, a coalition of rebel groups led by Mahamat Nour from bases in Darfur on Sudan's border with Chad. But Chad's government is refusing to call the attackers rebels and blames Sudan for the incident at the camp. Chad says the assailants were mercenaries supported by Khartoum.

Apr 10 2006 FUC in eastern Chad mount fresh offensive to get to N'Djamena and oust Chadian President Deby

Apr 11 2006 BBC Chadian rebels raid central town

Apr 12 2006 BBC Chad rebels 'advance on capital' - The BBC's Stephanie Hancock in N'Djamena says people in the capital are going to work as usual, but are not sending their children to school in case of unrest.

Egypt: Mubarak tackles Darfur over phone with Annan

President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt received a phone call from UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to discuss Darfur, SIS/andn reported April 11, 2006.